How to Dine on Fête Fare

A sampling of soirée snacks that have recently been served in New York City. Photographs by PatrickMcMullan.com.

It’s easy to eat and drink for free every night of the week while you are riding out the recession: all you have to do is play your party R.S.V.P.’s correctly. Not including items served at luncheons or dinner parties (coveted invites because you get a free full meal), there are generally two kinds of snacks served at soirées: passed trays and buffet grub. However, there are tricks to both types of dining in order to appear as if you are effortlessly grazing while you are in fact maximizing your food consumption.Passed Trays:

• Station yourself close to the area where the servers are bringing out the sustenance. It’s also a good idea to camp out next to a foodie (Ben Leventhal, Alan Richman, Michael Ruhlman, you know the type) or a circle of men, as servers seem to gravitate toward these types of partygoers first.

• To avoid a mess, identify whether the grub being passed can be eaten in one bite. Take your cue from other revelers if you are questioning this. Also try to determine if the item will be easy to pick up from the tray without dribbling (soggy bruschetta is a prime example of disaster territory) or fumbling the food (sometimes it’s difficult to get a good grip on a cracker).

• Call the server over by playfully eyeing the edibles.

• Avoid food on sticks (beef kabobs, shrimp donuts, cheesecake on a wand, and the like). You don’t want to have to hold on to any remnants after you are done eating.

• Spoons are a better choice than sticks because servers usually wait around to snag the silverware, but pay attention to the depth of the spoon before making the grab. You want to be able to gracefully eat everything on the spoon.

• Always be wary of dipping sauces; they are easily dripped on a blouse or a tie.

• Often there will be two or three servers carrying trays with the same type of food, so if you are ravished, pay attention to whom you’ve taken food from—then gobble up seconds from a different server so you don’t look greedy. If you are about to pass out from hunger, you can engage the server in conversation for a moment between bites and then take a second helping, although this technique takes practice (and is more difficult to accomplish if the ratio of trays to partygoers is low).

• Snag a cocktail napkin after nibbling.

Buffet Grub:

• Identify where you will eat once you’ve loaded up your plate of food. Sometimes you will have the opportunity to stand at a high table; other times there will be seating on couches, but no tables. The most difficult situation is when you are forced to stand while dining.

• Notice whether you will be working with a small plate or a normal-size dinner plate. Is the silverware wrapped in a linen napkin, or are you required to grab individual pieces of silverware and a napkin?

• And where will you place your plate when you are finished? Servers picking up plates are sometimes scarce when you need them. Locate an appropriate table or ledge for disposal.

• Set down your champagne or wine glass before heading to the buffet line. It’s best to have two hands available while serving yourself. (If someone is serving you from behind the buffet, remember, you’ll still have to grab your silverware, so you’ll need both hands.)

• If you are forced to stand while dining, go to the buffet table with a friend. That way, once you’ve grabbed your food, your friend can hold your plate while you unwrap your silverware from the linen napkin, and vice versa.

• If you don’t want to be seen chowing down on a heaping plate full of food, find a dark corner and inhale quickly.

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